Jon Steinlauf named chief U.S. advertising sales officer for Warner Bros. Discovery
Steinlauf selected from Discovery side as WarnerMedia merge looms.
Hollif
The future of the new Warner Bros. Discovery ad sales is taking shape, with Jon Steinlauf pegged to serve as chief U.S. advertising sales officer.
This comes as the WarnerMedia and Discovery merger is slated to close as soon as today, according to reports. Steinlauf, who has held the same role at Discovery since 2018, will now bring WarnerMedia's brands—including HBO Max—under his purview.
Steinlauf will report to Bruce Campbell, Warner Bros. Discovery’s imminent chief revenue and strategy officer. The announcement follows a series of executive shuffles between the two companies.
"Jon is an industry pioneer, a brilliant thinker and an excellent leader. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join the Warner Bros. Discovery leadership team,” said Campbell in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with him and the entire organization as we bring together two world-class sales organizations to create a complete and differentiated offering for our advertisers."
"I am honored to be leading what I believe will be the most talented ad sales organization in the industry," said Steinlauf in a statement. "Warner Bros. Discovery will offer advertisers the most complementary portfolio of brands - spanning news, sports, entertainment, scripted, unscripted and family-focused programming. Together, we will introduce unparalleled ad-supported streaming opportunities to our clients. I've spent the last 30 years of my career at Turner, Scripps and Discovery and have the utmost respect for the Warner brands. It is incredible to me that everything will come full circle at Warner Bros. Discovery."
With Steinlauf's appointment, JP Colaco, who joined WarnerMedia in October 2020 to lead ad sales, will depart from the company. During his tenure, Colaco ushered in HBO Max's ad-supported tier.
This is the latest executive shakeup in the wake of the impending merger. Earlier this week, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar announced his departure, as well as the company's chief financial officer and top execs in human resources, revenue, communications and technology departments, among others.
